A new scheme for the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean and the dissection of an Aptian salt basin

Geophysical Journal International

Volumn 177, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 1315-1333

  Torsvik, Trond H ^a,b,c   Rousse, Sonia ^a,d,e,f   Labails, Cinthia ^a   Smethurst, Mark A ^a  

^a GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NORWAY   (Norway)

^b UNIVERSITY OF OSLO   (Norway)

^c UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

^d OBSERVATOIRE MIDI PYRÉNÉES   (France)

^e INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT   (France)

^f CNRS   (France)

Author keywords

Continental margins: Divergent; Gravity anomalies and Earth structure; Marine magnetics and palaeomagnetics; Oceanic hotspots and intraplate volcanism; Plate motions; Sedimentary basin processes

Indexed keywords

APTIAN; CONTINENTAL MARGIN; CONTINENTAL SHELF; CRUSTAL STRUCTURE; GRAVITY ANOMALY; HOT SPOT; INTRAPLATE PROCESS; OCEAN BASIN; PLATE MOTION; PLATE TECTONICS; SEAFLOOR SPREADING; SEDIMENTARY BASIN; VOLCANISM;

AFRICA; ATLANTIC OCEAN; ATLANTIC OCEAN (SOUTH); RIO GRANDE RISE; SOUTH AMERICA; WALVIS RIDGE;

EID: 66549122480     PISSN: 0956540X     EISSN: 1365246X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04137.x     Document Type: Article

References (113)

1. Abrahão, D. & Warme, J.E., 1990. Lacustrine and associated deposits in a rifted continental margin-lower cretaceous Lagoa feia Formatio, Campos basin, offshore Brazil, in Lacustrine Basin Exploration, Case Studies and Modern Analogs, Vol. 50, pp. 287-305, ed. Katz, B.J., AAPG Memoir.
2. Adie, R.J., 1952. The position of the Falkland islands in a reconstruction of Gondwanaland, Geol. Mag., 89, 401-410.
3. Allmendinger, R.W., Jordan, T.E., Kay, M.S. & Isacks, B.L., 1997. The evolution of the Altiplano-Puna plateau of the central Andes, Annu. Rev. Earth planet. Sci., 25, 139-174.
4. Assumpçao, M., Schimmel, M., Escalante, C., Barbosa, J.R., Rocha, M. & Barros, L.V., 2004. Intraplate seismicity in SE Brazil: Stress concentration in lithospheric thin spots, Geophys. J. Int., 159, 390-399, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2004.02357.x
5. Barker, P.F., 2001. Scotia Sea regional tectonic evolution: Implication for mantle flow and paleocirculation, Earth Sci. Rev., 55, 1-39.
6. Basile, C., Mascle, J., Guiraud, R., 2005. Phanerozoic geological evolution of the equatorial Atlantic domain, J. Afr. Earth Sci., 43, 275-282
7. Bauer, K. et al., 2000. Deep structure of the Namibia continental margin as derived from integrated geophysical studies, J. geophys. Res., 105, 25829-25853.
8. Binks, R.M. & Fairhead, J.D., 1992. A plate tectonic setting for Mesozoic rifts of West and Central Africa, Tectonophysics, 213, 141-151.
9. Browne, S.E. & Fairhead, J.D., 1983. Gravity study of the Central African Rifts System: A model ofTcontinental disruption, 1: the Ngaoundere and Abu Gabra rifts, Tectonophysics, 94, 187-203.
10. Bry, M., White, N., Singh, S., England, R. & Trowell, C., 2004. Anatomy and formation of oblique continental collision: South Falkland basin, Tectonics, 23, TC4011, doi: 10.1029/2002TC001482
11. Bullard, E.C., 1965. Fit of the continents around the Atlantic, Science, 148, 664, doi: 10.1126/science.148.3670.664
12. Burke, K., MacGregor, D.S. & Cameron, N.R., 2003. Africa's petroleum systems; four tectonic 'aces'in the past 600 millions years, in Petroleum Geology of Africa: New Themes and Developing Technologies, Vol. 207, pp. 21-60, eds Arthur, T.J., MacGregor, D.S. & Cameron, N.R., Geological Society of London Special Publication.
13. Burke, K. & Sengör, A.M.C., 1988. Ten metre global sea-level change associated with South Atlantic Aptian salt deposition, Mar. Geol., 83, 309-312, doi: 10.1016/0025-3227(88)90064-3
14. Cande, S.C. & Kent, D.V., 1995. Revised calibration of the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic, J. geophys. Res., 100, 6093-6095.
15. Chang, H.K., Kowsmann, R.O., Figueiredo, A.M.F. & Bender, A., 1992. Tectonics and stratigraphy of the east Brazil rift system: An overview, Tectonophysics, 213, 97-138.
16. Channel, J.E.T., Erba, E., Nakanishi, M. & Tamaki, K., 1995. Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous time scales and oceanic magnetic anomaly block models, in Geochronology, Time Scales and Global Stratigraphic Correlations, pp. 51-63, eds Berggren, W.A., Kent, D.V., Aubry, M.-P. & Hardenbol, J., SEPM Special Publication
17. Chernicoff, C.J. & Zappettini, E.O., 2004. Geophysical Evidence for terrane boundaries in South Central Argentina, Gondwana Res., 7, 1105-1116.
18. Contrucci, I. et al., 2004. Deep structure of the West African continental margin, between 5° and 8°S, from reflection/ refraction seismics and gravity data, Geophys. J. Int., 158, 529-553.
19. Coward, M.P. & Ries, A.C., 2003. Tectonic development of North African basins, Vol. 207, pp. 61-83 Geological Society of London Special Publication.
20. Daly, M.C., Chorowicz, J. & Fairhead, J.D., 1989. Rift basin evolution in Africa: The influence of reactivated steep basement shear zones, in Inversion Tectonics, Vol. 44, pp. 309-334, eds Cooper, M.A. & Williams, G.D., Geological Society of London Special Publication.
21. Dalziel, I.W.D. & Lawver, L.S., 2001. The lithospheric setting of the west Antarctic ice sheet, in The West Antarctic Ice Sheet; Behavior and Environment, Antarctic Research Series, AGU Monograph, Vol. 77, pp. 29-44, eds Alley, R.B. & Bindschadler, R.A., AGU.
22. Dalziel, I.W.D., Storey, B.C., Garrett, S.W., Grunow, A.M., Herrod, L.D.B. & Pankhurst, R.J., 1987. Extensional tectonics and the fragmentation of the Gondwanaland, in Continental Extension Tectonics Vol. 28, pp. 433-441, eds Dewey, J.F. & Hancock, P.L, Geological Society of London Special Publication.
23. Davis, M. & Kusznir, 2004. Depth-dependant lithospheric stretching at rifted continental margins, in Rheology and Deformation of the Lithosphere at Continental Margins: Theoretical and Experimental Earth Sciences Series, pp. 92-137, eds Karner, G.D., Taylor, B., Driscoll, N.W., Kohlstedt, D.L., Columbia University Press, New York.
24. Davison, I., 1997. Wide and narrow margins of the Brazilian South Atlantic, J. geol. Soc. Lond., 154, 471-476.
25. Dupré, S., Bertotti, G. & Cloetingh, S., 2007. Tectonic history along the South gabon basin: Anomalous early post-rift subsidence, Mar. Petrol. Geol., 24, 151-172.
26. Eagles, G., 2007. New angles on South Atlantic opening, Geophys. J. Int., 168, 353-361.
27. Emery, K.O. & Uchupi, E., 1984. The Geology of the Atlantic Ocean, Springer, New York, p. 1050.
28. 39Ar dating of the North-eastern ParanáMagmatic province: Tectonic implications, J. Geodyn., 28, 321-340.
29. Feng, M., van der Lee, S. & Assumpçao, M., 2007. Upper mantle structure of South America from joint inversion of waveforms and fundamental mode group velocities of Rayleigh waves, J. geophys. Res., 112, B04312, doi: 10.1029/2006JB004449
30. Fodor, R.V., McKee, E.H. & Asmus, H.E., 1983. K-Ar ages and the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean: Basaltic rock from the Brazilian margin, Mar. Geol., 54, M1-M8.
31. Fodor, R.V., McKee, E.H. & Asmus, H.E., 1984. K-Ar ages and the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean: Basaltic rocks from the Brazilian margin, Mar. Geol., 54, M1-M8.
32. Franke, D., Neben, S., Schreckenberger, B., Schultze, A., Stiller, M. & Krawczyk, C., 2006. Crustal Structure across the Colorado Basin, offshore Argentina, Geophys. J. Int., 165, 850-864.
33. Gee, J.S. & Kent, D.V., 2007. Source of oceanic magnetic anomalies and the geomagnetic polarity timescale, in Treatrise on Geophysics, Vol. 5, Geomagnetism, pp. 455-507, ed. Kono, M., Elsevier, Amsterdam.
34. Genik, G.J., 1992. Regional framework, structural and petroleum aspects of rift basins in Niger, Chad and the Central African Republic (C.A.R.), Tectonophysics, 213, 169-185.
35. Geuna, S.E., Somoza, R., Vizán, H., Figari, E.G. & Rinaldi, C.A., 2000. Paleomagnetism of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks in central Patagonia: A key to constrain the timing of rotations during break-up of southwestern Gondwana, Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 181, 145-160.
36. Ghidella, M.E., Lawver, L.A. & Gahagan, L.M., 2007. Break-up of Gondwana and opening of the South Atlantic: Review of existing plate tectonic models, in Online Proceedings of the 10th ISAES, pp. 5, eds Cooper, A.K. et al., USGS Open-File report 2007-1047, Short research paper 055, doi: 10.3133/of2007-1047.srp055
37. Gladczenko, T.P., Hinz, K., Eldholm, O., Meyer, H., Neben, S. & Skogseid, J., 1997. South Atlantic volcanic margins, J. geol. Soc. Lond., 154, 465-470.
38. Gradstein, F.M., Agterberg, F.P., Ogg, J.G., Hardenbol, J.S., Van Veen, P., Thierry, J. & Huang, Z.H., 1994. A Mesozoic timescale, J. geophys. Res.-Solid Earth, 167, 1447-1460.
39. Gradstein, F.M., Ogg, J.G., Smith, A.G., Bleeker, W. & Lourens, L.J., 2004. A new geological timescale with special reference to Precambrian and Neogene, Episodes, 27, 83-100.
40. Grunow, A.M., Dalziel, I.W.D. & Kent, D.V., 1987. Ellsworth-Whitmore Mountains crustal block, western Antarctica: New paleomagnetic results and their tectonic significance, in Gondwana Six: Structure, Tectonics and Geophysics, pp. 161-172, ed. McKenzie, G.D., Am. Geophys. Union, Washington, D.C.
41. Guiraud, R., Bosworth, W., Thierry, J. & Delplanque, A., 2005. Phanerozoic geological evolution of Northern and Central Africa: An overview, J. Afr. Earth. Sci., 43, 83-143.
42. Guiraud, R. & Maurin, J.C., 1992. Early Cretaceous rifts of Western and Central Africa. an overview. Tectonophysics, 213, 153-168.
43. Hamza, V., Silva Dias, F.J.S., Gomes, A.J.L. & Delgadilho Terceros, Z.G., 2005. Numerical and functional representations of regional heat flow in South America, Phys. Earth planet. Inter., 152, 223-226.
44. Haq, B.U., Hardenbol, J. & Vail, P.R., 1987. Chronology of fluctuating sea levels since the Triassic, Science, 235 (4793), 1156-1167.
45. He, H., Pan, Y., Tauxe, L., Qin, H. & Zhu, R., 2008. Toward age determination of the M0r (Barremian-Aptian boundary) of the early Cretaceous, Physics Earth planet. Inter., 169, 41-48.
46. Hinz, K., 1981. A hypothesis on terrestrial catastrophes-Wedges of very thick oceanward dipping layers beneath passive continental margins, Geologishes Jahrb. Reihe, 22, 3-28.
47. Hudec, M.R. & Jackson, M.P.A., 2004. Regional restoration across the Kwanza basin, Angola: Salt tectonics triggered by repeated uplift of a metastable passive margin, AAPG Bull., 88 (7), 971-990.
48. Hudec, M.R. & Jackson, M.P.A., 2006. Advance of allochthonous salt sheets in passive margins and orogens, AAPG Bull., 90 (10), 1535-1564.
49. Jackson, M.P.A., Cramez, C. & Fonck, J-M., 2000. Role of subaerial volcanic rocks and mantle plumes in creation of South Atlantic margins: implications for salt tectonics and source rocks, Mar. Petrol. Geol., 17, 477-498.
50. Karner, G.D., 2000. Rifts of the Campos and Santos basins, southeastern Brazil: Distribution and timing, in Petroleum Systems of South Atlantic Margins, Vol. 73, pp. 301-315, eds Mello, M.R. & Katz, B.J., AAPG Memoir.
51. Karner, G.D., Driscoll, N.W. & Barker, D.H.N., 2003. Syn-rift regional subsidence across the West African continental margin: The role of lower plate ductile extension, in Petroleum Geology of West Africa: New Themes and Developing Technologies, Vol. 207, pp. 105-129, eds Arthur, T.J., MacGregor, D.S. & Cameron, N.R., Geological Society of London Special Publication.
52. Karner, G.D., Driscoll, N.W., McGinnis, J.P., Brumbaugh, W.D. & Cameron, N.R., 1997. Tectonic significance of syn-rift sediments packages across the Gabon-Cabinda continental margin, Mar. Petrol. Geol., 14, 973-1000.
53. Katz, B.J., Dawson, W.C., Liro, L.M., Robinson, V.D. & Stonebraker, J.D., 2000. Petroleum systems of the OgoouéDelta, offshore Gabon, in Petroleum systems of the South Atlantic Margins, Vol. 73, pp. 247-255, eds Mello, M.R. & Katz, B.J., AAPG Memoir. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
54. Katz, B.J. & Mello, M.R., 2000. Petroleum systems of South Atlantic Marginal Basins-an overview, AAPG Memoirs, 73, 1-14.
55. Ledru, P., Eko N'Dong, J., Johan, V., Prian, J.P., Coste, B. & Haccard, D., 1994. Markers of the last stage of the Paleoproterozoic collision: Evidence for 2 Ga continent involving circum south Atlantic provinces, Precamb. Res., 69, 169-191.
56. Lodolo, E., Menichetti, M., Bartole, R., Ben-Avraham, Z., Tassone, A. & Lippai, H., 2003. Magellanes-Fagnano continental transform fault (Tierra del Fuego, southernmost South America), Tectonics, 22 (6), 1076, doi: 10.1029/2003TC001500
57. Lucazeau, F., Brigaud, F. & Leturmy, P., 2003. Dynamic interactions between the Gulf of Guinea passive margin and the Congo River drainage basin, 2: Isostasy and uplift, J. geophys. Res., 108 (B8), 2384, doi: 10.1029/2002JB001928
58. MacDonald, D. et al. 2003. Mesozoic break-up of SW Gondwana: Implication for regional hydrocarbon potential of the southern South Atlantic, Mar. Petrol. Geol., 20, 287-308.
59. Mamani, M., Tassara, A. & Wörner, G., 2008. Composition and structural control of crustal domains in the central Andes, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 9, Q03006, doi: 10.1029/2007GC001925
60. Marshall, J.E.A., 1994. The Falkland Island and the early fragmentation of Gondwana: Implication for hydrocarbon exploration in the Falkland Plateau, Mar. Petrol. Geol., 11, 631-636.
61. Marton, L.G., Tari, G.C. & Lehmann, C.T., 2000. Evolution of the Angolan passive margin, West Africa, with emphasis on post-salt structural styles, in Atlantic Rifts and Continental Margins, Geophysical Monograph, Vol. 115, pp. 129-149, eds Mohriak, W. & Talwani, M., American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.
62. Marzoli, A. et al., 1999. Geochronology and petrology of Cretaceous basaltic magmatism in the Kwanza basin (western Angola), and relationship with the Prana-Etendeka continental flood basalt province, J. Geodyn., 28, 341-356.
63. Mascle, J., Blarez, E. & Marhino, M., 1988. The shallow structure of the Guinea and Ivory Coast-Ghana transform margins: Their bearing on the Equatorial Atlantic Mesozoic evolution, Tectonophysics, 155, 193-209.
64. McDonald, D. et al., 2003. Mesozoic break-up of SW Gondwana: Implication for regional hydrocarbon potential in the southern South Atlantic, Mar. Petrol. Geol., 20, 287-308.
65. Meisling, K.E., Cobbold, P.R. & Mount, V.S., 2001. Segmentation of an obliquely rifted margin, Campos and Santos basins, southeastern Brazil, AAPG Bull., 85, 1903-1924.
66. Milner, S.C., Duncan, A.R., Whittingham, A.M. & Ewarts, A., 1995. Trans-Atlantic correlation of erruptive sequences and individual silitic units within the Paraná-Etendeka igneous province, J. Volc. Geotherm. Res., 69, 137-157.
67. Mitchell, C., Taylor, G.K., Cox, K.G. & Shaw, J., 1986. Are the Falklands a rotated microplate?, Nature, 319, 131-134.
68. Mizusaki, A.M.P., Thomaz Filho, A. & Valenca, J.G., 1988. Volcano-sedimentary sequence of Neocomian age in Campos basin (Brazil), Rev. Bras. Geociênc., 17, 247-251.
69. Mohriak, W.U. et al., 1995. Salt tectonics and structural styles in the deep-water province of the Cabo Frio region, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in Salt Tectonics: A Global Perspective, Vol. 65, pp. 273-304, eds Jackson, M.P.A., Roberts, D.G. & Snelson, S., AAPG Memoir.
70. Mohriak, W.U., Hobbs, R. & Dewey, J.F., 1990. Basin-forming processes and the deep structure of the Campos basin, offshore Brazil, Mar. Petrol. Geol., 7, 94-122.
71. Mohriak, W.U., Rosendahl, B.R., Turner, J.P. & Valente, S.C., 2000. Crustal architecture of South Atlantic volcanic margins, in Volcanic Rifted Margin, Vol. 362, pp. 159-202, eds Menzies, M.A., Klemperer, S.L., Ebinger, C.J. & Baker, J., Special Paper, Geological Society of America, Boulder.
72. Monaldi, C.R., Salfity, J.A. & Kley, J., 2008. Preserved extensional structures in an inverted Cretaceous rift basin, northwestern Argentina: outcrop examples and implications for fault reactivation, Tectonics, 27, TC1011, doi: 10.1029/2006TC001993
73. Moulin, M. et al., 2005. Geological constraints on the evolution of the Angolan margin based on reflection and refraction seismic data (ZaïAngo project), Geophys. J. Int., 162, 793-810.
74. Müller, R.D., Roest, W.D., Royer, J.-Y., Gahagan, L.M. & Sclater, J.G., 1997. Digital isochrons of the world's ocean floor, J. geophys. Res., 102, 3211-3214.
75. Müller, R.D., Sdrolias, M., Gaina, C., Steinberger, B., Heine, C., 2008. Long-term sea-level fluctuations driven by ocean basin dynamics, Science, 319, 1357-1362.
76. Nunn, J.A. & Harris, N.B., 2007. Subsurface seepage of seawater across a barrier: A source of water and salt to peripheral salt basins, GSA Bull., 119 (9-10), 1201-1217; doi: 101130/B26088.1
77. Nürnberg, D. & Müller, R.D., 1991. The tectonic evolution of the South Atlantic from late Jurassic to present, Tectonophysics, 191, 27-53, doi: 10.10160040-1951(91)90231-G
78. O'Connor, J.M. & Duncan, R.A., 1990. Evolution of the Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Rise hotspot system: Implication for African and South American plate motions over plumes, J. geophys. Res., 95, 17475-17502.
79. Pankhurst, R.J., Rapela, C.W., Fanning, C.M. & Márquez, M., 2006. Gondwanide continental collision and origin of Patagonia, Earth Sci. Rev., 76, 235-257.
80. Parsiegla, N., Gohl, K., Uenzelmann-Neben, G., 2008. The Agulhas Plateau: Structure and evolution of a Large Igneous Province, Geophys. J. Int., 174, 336-350.
81. Peate, D.W., 1997. The Paraná-Etendeka Province, in Large Igneous Provinces, Geophysical Monograph, Vol. 100, pp. 217-245, eds Mahoney, J.J. & Coffin, M.F., American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.
82. Pérez-Gussinyé, M., Lowry, A.R., Phipps Morgan, J. & Tassara, A., 2008. Effective elastic thickness variation along the Andean margin and their relationship to subduction geometry, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 9, Q02003, doi: 10.1029/2007GC001786
83. Pérez-Gussinyé, M., Lowry, A.R. & Watts, A.B., 2007. Effective elastic thickness of South America and its implication for intracontinental deformation, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 8, Q05009, doi: 10.1029/2006GC001511
84. Piccirillo, E.M. et al., 1990. Lower Cretaceous tholeiitic dyke swarm s from the Ponta Grossa Arch (southeast Brazil): Petrology Sr-Nd isotopes and genetic relationship with the Paranáflood volcanics, Chem. Geol., 89, 1223-1226.
85. Pindell, J.L., Cande, S.C., Pitman, W.C. III, Rowley, D.B., Dewey, J.F., LaBrecque, J. & Haxby, W., 1988. A plate kinematic framework for models of the Caribbean evolution, Tectonophysics, 155, 121-138.
86. Pletsch, T., Erbacher, J., Holbourn, A.E.L., Kuhnt, W., Moullade, M., Oboh-Ikuenobede, E., Söding, F.E. & Wagner, T., 2001. Cretaceous separation of Africa and South America: The view from the West African margin (ODP Leg 159), J. South Am.n Earth Sci., 14, 147-174.
87. Popoff, M., 1988. Du Gondwana àl'Atlantique sud: Les connexions du fosséde la Bénouéavec les bassins du Nord-Est brésilien jusqu'àl'ouverture du golfe de Guinée au Crétacé inférieur, J. Afr. Earth Sci., 7, 409-431.
88. Rabinowitz, P.D. & Labrecque, J., 1979. The Mesozoic South Atlantic Ocean and evolution of its continental margins, J. geophys. Res., 84, 5973-6002.
89. Ramos, V.A., 2005. Argentina, Encyclopedia of Geology, Vol. 1, pp. 153-163, eds Selley, R.C., Cocks, L.R.M. & Plimer, I.R., Elsevier Academic Press, Oxford, UK.
90. 39Ar dating of the early cretaceous Florianopolis dike swarm, southern Brazil, Phys. Earth planet Inter., 131, 159-170.
91. Renne, P.R., Ernesto, M., Pacca, I.G., Coe, R.S., Blen, J.M., Prévot, M. & Perrin, M., 1992. The age of Paraná flood volcanism, rifting of Gondwanaland and the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary, Science, 258, 975-979.
92. Renne, P.R., Glen, J.M., Milner, S.C., Duncan, A.R., 1996. Age of Etendeka flood volcanism and associated intrusion in Southwestern Africa, Geology, 24, 659-662.
93. Roest, W.R., Danobeitia, J.J., Verhoef, J. & Colette, B.J., 1992. Magnetic anomalies in the Canary basin and the Mesozoic evolution of the Central North Atlantic, Mar. Geophys. Res., 14, 1-24.
94. Schmidt, C.J., Astini, R.A., Costa, C.H., Gardini, C.E. & Kraemer, P.E., 1995. Cretaceous rifting, alluvial fan sedimentation, and Neogene inversion, southern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina, in Petroleum Basins of South America, Vol. 62, pp. 5-52, eds Tankard, A.J., Suarez Soruco, R. & Welsink, H.J., AAPG Memoir, USA.
95. Séranne, M. & Anka, Z., 2005. South Atlantic continental margins of Africa: A comparison of the tectonic vs climate interplay on the evolution of equatorial west Africa and SW Africa margins, J. Afr. Earth Sci., 43, 283-300.
96. Séranne, M., Séguret, M. & Fauchier, M., 1992. Seismic super-units and post-rift evolution of the continental passive margin of Southern Gabon, Bull. Soc. Geol. France, 163, 135-146.
97. Szatmari, P., 2000. Habitat of Petroleum along the South Atlantic Margins, in Petroleum Systems of South Atlantic Margins, Vol. 73, pp. 69-75, eds Mello, M.R. & Katz, B.J., AAPG Memoir, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
98. Tankard, A.J., et al., 1995. Structural and tectonic controls of basin evolution in Southwestern Gondwana during the Phanerozoic, in Petroleum Basins of South America, Vol. 62, pp. 5-52, eds Tankard, A.J., Suarez Soruco, R. & Welsink, H.J., AAPG Memoir, USA.
99. Tari, G., Molnar, J. & Ashton, P., 2003. Examples of salt tectonics from West Africa: A comparative approach, Vol. 207, in Petroleum Geology of West Africa: New Themes and Developing Technologies, pp. 85-104, eds Arthur, T.J., MacGregor, D.S. & Cameron, N.R., Geological Society of London, Special Publication.
100. Tessereinc, P. & Villemin, J., 1990. Sedimentary basin of Gabon; geology and oil systems, in Divergent/Passive Margin Basins, Vol. 48, pp. 117-199, AAPG Memoir, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
101. Torsvik, T.H., Eide, E.A., Redfield, T.F., Lundin, E., Smethurst, M.A. & Ebbing, J., 2004. South Atlantic reconstructions: A self-consistent model. NGU Report 2004.024, 100 pp (client: Statoil ASA), Available at http://www.geodynamics.no/guest/ NGU_Report_2004_024.pdf
102. Torsvik, T.H., Smethurst, M.A., Burke, K. & Steinberger, B., 2006. Large Igneous Provinces generated from the margins of the Large Low Velocity Provinces in the deep mantle, Geophys. J. Int., 167, 1447-1460.
103. Torsvik, T.H., Gaina, C. & Redfield, T.F., 2008a. Antarctica and global paleogeography: From Rodinia, through Gondwanaland and Pangea, to the birth of the Southern Ocean and the opening of gateways, in Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World, pp. 125-140, eds Cooper, A.K., Barrett, P.J., Stagg, H., Storey, B., Stump, E., Wise, W., The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, in Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Science.
104. Torsvik, T.H., Müller, R.D., Van der Voo, R., Steinberger, B. & Gaina, C., 2008b. Global plate motion frames: Toward a unified model, Rev. Geophys., 46, RG3004, doi: 10.1029/2007RG000227
105. Torsvik, T.H. & Smethurst, M.A., 1999. Plate tectonic modelling: virtual reality with GMAP, Comput. Geosci., 25, 395-402.
106. 39Ar geochronology, Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 121, 333-348.
107. Unternehr, P., Curie, D., Olivet, J.L., Goslin, J. & Beuzart, P., 1988. South Atlantic fits and intraplate boundaries in Africa and South America, Tectonophysics, 155, 169-179.
108. Vink, G.R., 1982. Continental rifting and the implication for plate tectonics reconstructions, J. geophys. Res., 87, 10677-10688.
109. Watts, A.B. & Steward, J., 1998. Gravity anomalies and segmentation of the continental margin offshore West Africa, Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 156, 239-252.
110. Webster, R.E., Chebli, G.A. & Fischer, J.F., 2004. General Levalle basin Argentina: A frontier lower cretaceous rift basin, AAPG Bull., 88, 627-652.
111. Wegener, A., 1915. Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane, Vol. 23, p. 94, Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig.
112. Wessel, P. & Smith, W.H.F., 1991. Free software helps map and display data, Eos, 72, 441.
113. Wilson, M. & Guiraud, R., 1992. Magmatism and rifting in Western and Central Africa, from Late Jurassic to recent times, Tectonophysics, 213, 203-225.